Establishment (Woods) vs. Youth (Cantlay)

One of the themes for the 2011 PGA TOUR season is the competition involving the younger players and the established ones. How will the veteran players -- those with significant TOUR experience and long-standing championship pedigree -- fare against the hungry up-and-comers who are looking to nudge their way into the TOUR's elite?

Each week, PGATOUR.COM will select two players and analyze their chances heading into the tournament. We'll then track which player has the better score for his team, and keep a running team tally throughout the year.

For the Frys.com Open, we've selected UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay and former world No. 1 Tiger Woods. The two will tee off Thursday at 3:10 p.m. ET (12:10 p.m. local) off hole No. 1.

Woods is making a rare appearance in the Fall Series after missing the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup for the first time in his career. He missed the cut in his last start on TOUR at the PGA Championship and will be looking for his first win since the 2009 BMW Championship.

ESTABLISHMENTAGE: 35YEARS ON TOUR: Woods is winding up his 15th season on the PGA TOUR. He has 71 victories, including 14 majors -- second only to Jack Nicklaus.OVERVIEW: oods, who has dropped out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since his rookie year in 1996, enters the Frys.com Open with a lot of question marks. How will his new swing, crafted under the guidance of Sean Foley, hold up? Will he silence those who criticized his selection to the U.S. Presidents Cup team with a big finish at CordeValle Golf Club this week? (Woods added the Frys.com Open to help make sure he is in top competitive form for the biennial matches at Royal Melbourne in November.) Can he break a PGA TOUR victory drought that dates back to 2009? Woods has played sparingly this year due to nagging injuries to his left knee and Achilles tendon that prompted him to withdraw from THE PLAYERS Championship in May. He didn't play again until August at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational where he tied for 37th. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and has spent the last eight weeks working on his game. HISTORY IN THIS EVENT: Woods has never played at CordeValle Golf club. The native Californian should be comfortable with the conditions he'll find there, though -- and Woods has proven enormously adaptable during his career.OUTLOOK THIS WEEK: Woods is always one to rise to the occasion and he certainly has challenged himself this week. He said that his game has progressed a lot over the last two months and he's anxious to put it under the competitive pressure he'll face this week.

YOUTHAGE: 19YEARS ON TOUR: Cantlay is a UCLA sophomore who bucked family tradition -- both his parents at Southern Cal grads. He played in 11 tournaments as a freshman and won four times, posting a scoring average of 70.5. OVERVIEW: Cantlay's freshman year at UCLA was impressive as he led the team in top-10 finishes with nine, rounds under par (20) and rounds under 70 (17). He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation's top collegian as well as the Phil Mickelson Award as the top freshman. Not surprisingly, he was a concensus first-team All-American. Cantlay played in four PGA TOUR events this summer and finished 24th or better in each one. He tied for 21st and was the low amateur at the U.S. Open. Cantlay also created considerable excitement the following week at the Travelers Championship where he shot 60 in the second round. His best finish on TOUR came at the RBC Canadian Open where he shot 68-69 on the weekend and tied for ninth. Cantlay also was the runner-up at the U.S. Amateur and played in hthe Walker Cup, the first UCLA player since Corey Pavin in 1982 to make the team.HISTORY IN THIS EVENT: Cantlay has never played in the Frys.com Open but he does know CordeValle Golf Club. He won last year's Gifford Collegiate there, shooting 6 under on rounds of 67-69-71.OUTLOOK THIS WEEK: Cantlay has certainly showed poise beyond his years in the four previous PGA TOUR events he's played. Not to mention, he should have confidence after winning a tournament at CordeValle. How well he handles the attention that comes with being paired with Woods, though, will be key.

Here are the results of the previous matchups this year

Score/Finish

Tournament

Score/Finish

Steve Stricker

20 under (T-4th)

Hyundai TOC

Dustin Johnson

14 under (T-9th)

Ernie Els

4 under (T-42nd)

Sony Open

Jason Day

8 under (T-20th)

Stewart Cink

5 under (MC)

Bob Hope Classic

Bubba Watson

7 under (MC)

Davis Love III

5 over (MC)

Farmers Insurance Open

Rickie Fowler

5 under (T20)

Angel Cabrera

7 under (T-49th)

Waste Management Phoenix

Jhonattan Vegas

2 under (MC)

Padraig Harrington

2 over (T63)

AT&T Pebble Beach National

Dustin Johnson

Even (T55)

Jim Furyk

1 under (T35)

Northern Trust Open

Louis Oosthuizen

3 over (T62)

Vijay Singh

9 over (MC)

The Honda Classic

Anthony Kim

7 over (MC)

Luke Donald

11 under (T6)

WGC-Cadillac Championship

Jhonattan Vegas

2 under (T31)

Sergio Garcia

7 under (T15)

Transitions Championship

Matteo Manassero

6 under (T20)

Phil Mickelson

1 under (T24)

Arnold Palmer Invitational

Graeme McDowell

9 over (MC)

Fred Couples

Even (T60)

Shell Houston Open

Gary Woodland

10 under (T13)

Tiger Woods

10 under (T4)

The Masters

Martin Kaymer

6 over (MC)

Justin Leonard

2 under (T30)

Valero Texas Open

Anthony Kim

7 over (MC)

Jim Furyk

5 under (T21)

The Heritage

Jason Day

7 under (T9)

David Toms

7 under (T18)

Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Brandt Snedeker

2 over (MC)

Phil Mickelson

10 under (T9)

Wells Fargo Championship

Bubba Watson

3 under (T48)

Tiger Woods

Withdrew

THE PLAYERS Championship

Charl Schwartzel

6 under (T26)

Paul Goydos

5 under (T10)

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

Jason Day

3 under (T31)

Vijay Singh

5 over (T27)

HP Byron Nelson Championship

Nick Watney

1 over (T8)

Jim Furyk

8 over (MC)

the Memorial Tournament

Bubba Watson

1 under (T42)

David Toms

5 over (MC)

FedEx St. Jude Classic

Camilo Villegas

8 under (3)

Ernie Els

6 over (MC)

U.S. Open

Graeme McDowell

2 under (T14)

Padraig Harrington

4 under (T63)

Travelers Championship

Aaron Baddeley

11 under (T24)

K.J. Choi

11 under (2nd)

AT&T National

Adam Scott

9 under (T3)

Stewart Cink

3 under (MC)

John Deere Classic

Louis Oosthuizen

3 under (MC)

Tom Watson

6 over (T22)

British Open

Bubba Watson

9 over (T30)

Mike Weir

(WD)

RBC Canadian Open

Matt McQuillan

5 over (T31)

Davis Love III

2 over (MC)

The Greenbrier Classic

Jeff Overton

Even (T49)

Steve Stricker

7 under (14)

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Nick Watney

2 under (T23)

Tiger Woods

10 over (MC)

PGA Championship

Dustin Johnson

7 over (MC)

Davis Love III

11 under (T12)

Wyndham Championship

Bill Haas

2 under (MC)

Phil Mickelson

8 under (T43)

The Barclays

Keegan Bradley

1 over (MC)

Ernie Els

8 under (T16)

Deutsche Bank Championship

William McGirt

3 under (T42)

Jim Furyk

Even (T22)

BMW Championship

Rickie Fowler

4 over (48th)

Vijay Singh

Even (T16)

TOUR Championship

Webb Simpson

2 over (22ndth)

Bob Estes

11 under (T40)

JT Shriners Hospitals

Martin Laird

11 under (T40)

Cantlay, one of the game's most accomplished amateurs, will be making his fifth PGA TOUR start of the summer at the Frys.com Open. He has finished 24th or better in the other four, including one top 10 at the Travelers Championship. The 60 he shot in the first round at TPC River Highlands remains the low round on TOUR in 2011.